Somatek
Active member
Thought I'd share my project building an improved bubble hash washer. Specifically making it out of stainless steel, insulating it for improved cold retention with less ice for better quality and figuring out a better agitator that's easy to rinse clean. I'm also playing with an idea of stacking the bubble bags vertically so they drain into a bucket to improve the work flow and reduce the work by not having to pull bags out of a bucket. I have chronic back issues so the idea of pulling bags while they drain doesn't appeal to me anymore. Not to mention that by stacking the bags vertically you can use smaller 1gal bags to drain a 5gal tub.
The 5gal stock pot I used as the base after I inverted the lid and reshaped the rim to hold it in place and flush with the water inside.
Drilling a hole for the flush mount drain was easy, I beat the bottom into a concave shape first to help the water naturally drain out.
The initial test run was an excellent learning opportunity to see the kinks that needed to be worked out.
A shot of the modified agitator I bought off amazon, I added some fins on top to increase the effect which worked although I'm thinking of better solutions and specifically ways that I can get the motor out of the tub so the heat it generates doesn't affect the temperatures.
Some shots after I got it insulated, I cut out recesses in the bottom and left a void above the lid so I can pack ice packs in for external cooling to reduce the amount of ice needed inside even further while keeping the temps stable. I added 3.5" to all sides making the final dimensions a 19" cube of insulated goodness.
After a couples days sitting off to the side while I built out a veg area so I can start flowering as I'm almost out of last years outdoor crop, I had enough scrap wood left over to build a stand to hold it all together in place over the tub. Since I rent and want to be able to use this all year round setting it up in the tub just makes sense to easily rinse the trichs out of the system at the end as well as making sure all the mess/water is kept in a water proof area so there's no chance of damaging the apartment. I tested how the insulation works by filling it with water and one bag of ice (10 ice cube trays), half of it was melted within an hour, the rest within another hour to hour and a half which got the temps down to 7C while the ambient temps were around 30-32C. Four hours later the temps had only gone up to 9C, so it's definitely keeping things cold and it seems like most of the ice melted getting the water down to temp initially. Next time I'll leave a pot of water in the fridge first and then I'm guessing one bag of ice will be enough compared to using 2 bags in the initial test run when the ambient temps were only 16-18C (I woke up at 4am to test it while it was cool).
I'm also going to add a ball valve and shorten the hose so it drains directly into the bags as there isn't enough clearance to use a hose. I may try testing it again tonight if I don't fall asleep that is...
As far as cost/time that I've put into the project, it's about $150CAD at this point for the 5gal stock pot, agitator, bubble bags w/ a work bag for inside the tub, 1/2" flush mount drain, food grade hose and 4x8ft (1.5") sheet of insulation. So less money then the bubbledude machine. The initial build without insulating it only took about 30 mins, cutting all that insulation to shape and gluing it took a good 3 hours (maybe closer to 4, I lost track in the building frenzy last weekend). In retrospect I should have listened to my friends suggestion and just built a box and then used spray foam insulation to fill it with the stock pot in place instead of trying to cut multiple circles to fit snuggly.
If anyone has any suggestions or constructive criticism I'd love to hear it as I'm mostly making things up as I go after thinking about the idea for awhile. I'm happy to answer any questions or elaborate on anything that isn't clear. My end goal once I get everything worked out will be to make a DIY guide so people can make their own instead of buying an inherently flawed design due as those personal washers weren't designed with hash making in mind.
The 5gal stock pot I used as the base after I inverted the lid and reshaped the rim to hold it in place and flush with the water inside.
Drilling a hole for the flush mount drain was easy, I beat the bottom into a concave shape first to help the water naturally drain out.
The initial test run was an excellent learning opportunity to see the kinks that needed to be worked out.
A shot of the modified agitator I bought off amazon, I added some fins on top to increase the effect which worked although I'm thinking of better solutions and specifically ways that I can get the motor out of the tub so the heat it generates doesn't affect the temperatures.
Some shots after I got it insulated, I cut out recesses in the bottom and left a void above the lid so I can pack ice packs in for external cooling to reduce the amount of ice needed inside even further while keeping the temps stable. I added 3.5" to all sides making the final dimensions a 19" cube of insulated goodness.
After a couples days sitting off to the side while I built out a veg area so I can start flowering as I'm almost out of last years outdoor crop, I had enough scrap wood left over to build a stand to hold it all together in place over the tub. Since I rent and want to be able to use this all year round setting it up in the tub just makes sense to easily rinse the trichs out of the system at the end as well as making sure all the mess/water is kept in a water proof area so there's no chance of damaging the apartment. I tested how the insulation works by filling it with water and one bag of ice (10 ice cube trays), half of it was melted within an hour, the rest within another hour to hour and a half which got the temps down to 7C while the ambient temps were around 30-32C. Four hours later the temps had only gone up to 9C, so it's definitely keeping things cold and it seems like most of the ice melted getting the water down to temp initially. Next time I'll leave a pot of water in the fridge first and then I'm guessing one bag of ice will be enough compared to using 2 bags in the initial test run when the ambient temps were only 16-18C (I woke up at 4am to test it while it was cool).
I'm also going to add a ball valve and shorten the hose so it drains directly into the bags as there isn't enough clearance to use a hose. I may try testing it again tonight if I don't fall asleep that is...
As far as cost/time that I've put into the project, it's about $150CAD at this point for the 5gal stock pot, agitator, bubble bags w/ a work bag for inside the tub, 1/2" flush mount drain, food grade hose and 4x8ft (1.5") sheet of insulation. So less money then the bubbledude machine. The initial build without insulating it only took about 30 mins, cutting all that insulation to shape and gluing it took a good 3 hours (maybe closer to 4, I lost track in the building frenzy last weekend). In retrospect I should have listened to my friends suggestion and just built a box and then used spray foam insulation to fill it with the stock pot in place instead of trying to cut multiple circles to fit snuggly.
If anyone has any suggestions or constructive criticism I'd love to hear it as I'm mostly making things up as I go after thinking about the idea for awhile. I'm happy to answer any questions or elaborate on anything that isn't clear. My end goal once I get everything worked out will be to make a DIY guide so people can make their own instead of buying an inherently flawed design due as those personal washers weren't designed with hash making in mind.
